Korea's exports of instant noodles to Japan plunge

By Park Si-soo

Korea’s exports of instant noodles to Japan plunged 23.5 percent last year from a year earlier, according to the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., Sunday.

The fall reflects growing anti-Korean sentiment there caused by a long-running dispute between the two countries over the sovereignty of Dokdo, Korea’s easternmost island, analysts said.

Shipments of Korea’s ramyeon, or instant noodles, were estimated at $24.47 million last year, compared with $32 million the previous year.

Shipments of instant noodles had been on the decline since peaking at 11,405 tons worth $52.78 million in 2011.

As a result, the United States emerged as the largest importer of Korean instant noodles last year, bringing in 7,135 tons valued at $26.11 million, the data showed.

Industry watchers say the anti-Korea sentiment has escalated since the inauguration of ultra conservative Shinzo Abe as Japanese Prime Minister in December 2012.

“Exports of ramyeon to Japan surged in the mid-2000s on the growing popularity of Korea pop culture, but shipments have recently been hit hard by the growing wave of anti-South Korean sentiment there,” an industry observer said.

With shipments to Japan tumbling, Korea's overall ramyeon exports dropped 0.6 percent on-year to 48,803 tons in 2015, with their value also falling 1.9 percent to $208.5 million, according to the data. It was the first on-year decline in both export volume and value.